The Celtics have locked in Jaylen Brown for the remainder of the decade after agreeing to a five-year $304 million supermax extension with the All-Star on Tuesday.
A league source confirmed to MassLive that the deal will be fully guaranteed with no fifth-year player option. Brown will also get a trade kicker from Boston as part of the deal. The new contract will kick in during the 2024-25 season.
Here’s a breakdown of the deal by year with eight percent raises for each season after Brown earns 35 percent of the projected salary cap in the first season of the new deal.
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Jaylen Brown extension by year
2024-2025: $52,368,085
2025-2026: $56,557,532
2026-2027: $60,746,979
2027-2028: $64,936,425
2028-2029: $69,125,872
Total: $303,734,893 (estimate)
So what does the new contract mean for the Celtics salary cap picture? Let’s look at a few areas for the short and long term.
No impact on 2023-24 books
Brown still has one year left on his current deal ($30.7 million) so the team’s payroll remains as is right now even after agreeing to the new extension. Boston remains a luxury tax team in the present but are still under the second apron for the moment.
Urgency, limitations hit harder in 2024-25
With Brown’s new deal kicking in this year along with an extension for Kristaps Porzingis ($30 million) taking effect, Boston’s books will suddenly get very pricy. The Celtics will have $185.1 million committed to just nine players for the 2024-25 season, which puts them well into luxury tax territory already before even filling out the remainder of the 15-man roster. The team likely won’t have use of any mid-level exception next year and could look to cut some pricy role players on the payroll. Letting Grant Williams walk this offseason for draft picks was an example of this instead of signing him to a long-term deal.
Decision time in 2025-26
With Tatum’s own expected supermax extension set to kick in for the 2025-26 season, the summer of 2025 could be a fork in the road moment for the franchise. The combined salaries of Tatum, Brown and Porzingis at that point are projected to take up nearly 90 percent of the salary cap during the 2025-26 season and that will be happening right as repeater tax penalties kick in for Boston. The Celtics will either need to pay record-breaking tax penalties or downgrade significantly with cost-cutting for their supporting cast. The other possibility? Trading one of their stars to relieve some of the tax burden and build a well-rounded roster.
How the team fares in the next two seasons will likely go a long way in determining how Brad Stevens handles this conundrum. For now, Brown and the Celtics both have plenty of long-term security locked in as they make a push back toward returning to the NBA Finals next year.
